


These Cruel Delights

by Chiechie97



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bodyguard, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Graphic Sex, Hate to Love, I Mean Slow Burn, James is an asshole, Modern AU, Mutual Pining, Pining, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29895456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiechie97/pseuds/Chiechie97
Summary: James made it his life’s mission to make her miserable. Comments about her height, her looks, her intelligence. Everything you could imagine, any barb you could throw, he threw it at her. And Lily hated how her heart would stutter a little when she saw him. Someone so awful shouldn’t be so good-looking.But school was done.She was successful, wanted, envied.Lily hadn’t heard from James in years. But now he was standing in her dressing room, and apparently, someone wants to kill her.BODYGUARD AU
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Mary Macdonald/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 22





	1. Success

Seeing James Potter for the first time in five years was not how she expected this day to start. Lily expected to be in the studio from 7 am to 1 pm. She expected to be tired, covered in Vaseline and baby powder, and in desperate need of a shot. But she did not expect to see James Potter standing across the studio looking incredibly uncomfortable and out of place.

She noticed him when two stylists were busy trying to yank a tight latex suit onto her body.

Opening for Mario Geravolo was a model’s dream. He always had the most unique, albeit crazy, fashion concepts and opening for him guaranteed a spot in vogue and a nod from Anna Wintour. However, it was just her luck that his winter season was based on latex and fetishwear. The suit in question was part of a two-piece set comprised of what looked like a one-piece black latex swimsuit with long sleeves and chain garters that attached to knee-high latex boots that required half a pint of petroleum jelly to get into. 

“What is he doing here?” She asked the stylist currently pouring baby powder down her front, nodding at James, who was stood awkwardly in the corner of the room

“Your agency sent him,” the stylist shrugged. 

“Well, I want him out of the room. I don’t feel comfortable with him here,” she replied tightly. Her green eyes glued to him with a piercing glare. 

The stylist turned to James and shouted across the studio, “hey! You with the curls, wait outside. You’re making the models uncomfortable.”

James’s jaw tightened, but he obliged, stepping outside the studio.

“Do you know why my agency sent him?” She asked the stylist again 

“no idea, doll,” she replied, “you two have history or something?”

“Not history but definitely something,” Lily grumbled.

If you asked Lily about her time at Hogwarts when she was sober, odds are she would change the subject. If you asked her after a few shots, she would go into a rant about the pompous, stuck-up bullies she’d been forced to endure for seven years.

Confused looks always followed that. Who would bully Lily Evans? 

The hottest thing to hit the fashion world since Cindy Crawford, Lily’s model career exploded two years after leaving school. So fed up with the wizarding world and unable to get a good job with no muggle qualifications, she’d ended up waitressing at a high-end rooftop bar in central London. It was there that a scout for the modelling agency _Elite London_ spotted her, chasing Lily down after her shift to give her his card.

One test shoot, and the next thing she knew, she was walking for the biggest brands in fashion. Landing Magazine cover after cover, flying to Los Angles, Paris, and New York every other week. Her DMS filled with messages from Hollywood elites, she always had guestlist at any club. Her closet stocked with gifts from designers, her London penthouse purchased with the money made from her first ad campaign with Addidas. 

She hadn’t been sure how to handle the attention at first.

She’d spent so much of her time at school being mocked for her dark red hair and height, which made her stick out like a stop sign.

If it wasn’t for Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas she wasn’t sure what she would have done. They kept her grounded, shooting her a look if she ever said anything too swottish.

They were the only good things she’d taken away from school. Well that and a magical cure for hangovers.

She had been so excited to get her first school letter. 

She was a witch. Everything made sense. All the time’s odd things, unexplainable things, miraculous things that had happened, they were no longer a mystery.

She’d arrived starry-eyed and naive.

She was expecting to be out of place. She was muggle-born, after all.

What she hadn’t been expecting was the downright cruelty that waited for her at the hands of her classmates.

Not all of her classmates, Sev had been lovely. Mar was a doll, Mary and Dorcas were sweethearts, and Remus (despite the company he decided to keep) was alright.

James, on the other hand? 

James made it his life’s mission to make her miserable. Comments about her height, her looks, her intelligence. Everything you could imagine, any barb you could throw, he threw it at her.

It was horrible, made worse by the fact he was the best-looking and the most popular bloke at school. His crooked smile, hazel eyes, and sharp jawline made his looks difficult to ignore. He was always running a hand through his mass of dark hair, and his body was toned and fit from Quidditch. Lily hated how her heart would stutter a little when she saw him. Someone so awful shouldn’t be so good-looking.

The small, painful crush she harboured for him had been unbearable. Often culminating in hidden, tearful moments after he’d insult her. 

Then they had to be head boy and girl together.

He found every way possible to belittle her authority, reversing every decision she made, being meaner than he ever had been.

The worst was she couldn’t even use their shared common room. He’d regularly change the password on her, especially after she walked in on him with Fiona Cartwrights’ mouth on his cock. 

But school was done.

She was successful, wanted, envied.

She hadn’t heard from James in years. All she knew was he’d gone straight to the Auror training program. And while Marley still saw him on occasion, her friend knew better than to bring him up.

But seeing him again had sent a painful jolt through her gut. He’d gotten taller, his shoulders broader, his jaw more defined. Hazel eyes as sharp as ever behind dark frames. He’d made an effort with his hair, it was shaved on the sides and long on the top, but his curls were still unruly, flopping over his forehead in the same way they always had. She was also pretty sure she’d seen a tattoo peeking out from his shirt sleeve.

Lily spent time with some of the most beautiful men in the world, and yet he still stood out. It pissed her off more than anything.

She’d spent the past five years trying to forget him and everyone that had made her life hell in the magical world.

For the most part, Lily avoided the wizarding world, only going to wizarding places for books or potion ingredients, mainly to avoid seeing certain people. But her success in the muggle world had eventually bled over into the magical one, and her appearance in witch weekly had become regular. She’d taken modifying her appearance every time she went to Diagon Alley.

That was one aspect to fame that she hadn’t been ready for, people recognizing her. Being obsessed with her, the first time she saw she had a fan account, she nearly panicked.

She’d already had to get a few restraining orders against some paps and crazed fans.

But that she could deal with. And the life she had now was incredible, and James free as of five minutes ago.

The stylists finally finished yanking the boots over her thighs. Then it was off to the makeup chair, where Mario Geravolo and the lead makeup artist for the show spent the better part of an hour arguing over the makeup the models would be wearing for the show. 

What felt like twenty makeup wipes later, the makeup artist finished smudging thick eyeliner around her green eyes and swiped deep red blusher across the hollows of her cheekbones. The hairstylist yanking her long red hair into a sleek ponytail on top of her head, wrapping the top section of the ponytail with a strip of latex

The best part of being an opener was setting the tone for the show, which meant she worked closely with the designer and the choreographer. She practiced walking the length of the room in the platform boots while Mario called out instructions. Who said modelling wasn’t difficult?

Before the photographers began positioning her for the official photos. 

After the stylists pealed the suit off her body, she tugged on the joggers and thin jumper she’d arrived in.

It was always best to show up to fittings in the most comfortable clothing possible. It also meant that people wouldn’t recognize her when she left the studio. Lily always preferred to walk back to her apartment. Her agency had tried to get her to take a security guard with her, but she’d always refused, finding their presence too suffocating. Instead, relying on simple charms and glamorous to keep herself from being recognized. 

The whole fitting took so long, she’d completely forgotten James had been asked to step outside of the studio. He was still there, looking thoroughly annoyed.

“Evans.” 

she started, his voice was deeper than she remembered.

But she kept walking, popping in her AirPods and pretending she hadn’t heard him. She suddenly wished she’d taken her studio up on that offer of a security guard.

“Evans!” he called, jogging to catch up with her. “Oi, Evans!” he grabbed her arm.

“Don’t touch me.” Lily hissed, wrenching her arm out of his grasp before marching out of the studio

“I need to talk to you!”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“And I don't really want to talk to you either, but you need to listen to me!”

“Potter, I stopped listening to you five years ago, and my life has been wonderful ever since.”

“Ah yes, I forgot you’re head had gotten bigger. You’re snottier than you were at school.” He sneered

She stopped in her tracks, whirling around to face him. “MY heads got bigger? You’re just as much of an ass now as you were then! Now, if you don’t mind, I have places to be and people to see that are worth my time.” 

She turned back around, marching out onto the busy London street, revelling in the angry look that had briefly flashed across his handsome face at her last statement.

James had always had an ego, and Lily was finally in a position to deflate it a bit. Even though her hit had landed, her heart was thumping in her chest, and she was shaking slightly. Her confidence over the past five years had been so much better. She had become the one to make people nervous. Only he could make her feel like this. 

Weak.

“Evans!” he was beside her again, following her down the street. This time his tone was strained and angry.

“Why the hell are you following me” Lily snapped, turning back to him, “and why the hell did my agency send you?”

“As I said, I need to talk to you,” James snapped back at her, “and if you must know, it wasn’t your agency that sent me. I’m here to take you to your safety briefing.” 

“Safety briefing? I’m not going to a safety-“ but she was cut off as James had grabbed her arm again and apparated them off the streets of London and into a sizeable wood-panelled office, filled to the brim with different artifacts and tomes. 

She hadn't apparated in forever and she felt like she was going to be sick. Tandem apparation was awful, it felt as if you were being smushed together and then pushed through a keyhole.

The smell of his aftershave clung to her nose from the close contact. Cedar and sage. 

“Get off of me,” she snapped, ripping his hand off her arm. 

“Well, seems you did that with grace,” a voice quipped. An older man was sat behind a large desk on the opposite side. 

“Who are you?”

“Alastor Moody, head of the Auror office.”

“Auror office.” she deadpanned, “and what do the Aurors want with me?” 

“We want you safe, Ms. Evans.” Alastor Moody grunted, getting up from his desk.

She heard a snort, James was stood behind her, clearly anticipating her to bolt.

“I wasn’t aware my safety was of concern to the wizarding community.” Lily sniffed, arms crossed over her chest.

The office was freezing, and the thin shirt she was wearing did little to hide the fact she was braless underneath.

“You are the highest-profile magical personal in the muggle world to date, Ms. Evans, not since Anne Boylin has a witch been so well known by the muggle public.” He pressed, eyes studying her carefully “And your safety is now a matter of abiding by the international statute of secrecy. We've been under a lot of pressure from the International Confederation of Wizards.”

“I’m not a part of the magical world anymore.”

“Do you not currently have a wand stashed in your left boot?”

Ignoring the fact he somehow knew where she kept her wand, Lily scoffed, “I’ve been in the public eye for three years, and this has never been an issue. I’m fine with the security guards my agency provides.”

“I don’t think you understand, Lily. Someone in our world is trying to kill you.”


	2. Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad people liked the first chapter! I'm happy with the response it got!
> 
> The third chapter won't come as fast as I had this one already half-written when I posted the first.
> 
> Wear a mask, wash your hands, social distance!
> 
> Lots of love
> 
> _Chie <3 _

“What?” Lily felt her heart drop to her feet, “why would someone want to kill me?”

She looked back at James and was surprised to see he looked as shocked as she did.

“I thought this was just a matter of secrecy?” James asked his superior, brows furrowed in confusion.

“So did we until this morning.” The older Auror grunted, pulling open a drawer from his desk and handing her a piece of paper.

It was an intelligence memo, stamped with the International Confederation of Wizards seal.

CONFIDENTIAL: DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL MAGICAL SECURITY.

_Alastor,_

_Sources say that anti-muggle-born and anti-muggle sentiments have been on the rise. We have confirmed that a plot to make a public example of the muggle-born model Lily Evans has begun to make its way through these circles. From what we have gathered, an attempt on a public execution or torture will be attempted. We expect this attack to occur in and around the muggle public, which given our reports, she tends to frequent more than magical spaces. It is the recommendation of the council that she be brought into protection immediately. We will leave it to your department to do as it sees fit. We will pass along information as we attain it to ensure that the target is safe._

_Regards._

_K. Shacklebolt_

Lily could feel her hands shaking, eyes scanning the memo, again and again, hoping to god she was just misreading. 

“Why me?” She choked, looking up at Moody, who was studying her intensely.

“As I said before, you’re the highest-profile witch to be known by muggles in centuries. Your lineage doesn’t help either.” Moody elaborated, moving to sit behind his desk again. “Which is why we are moving to bring you into protective custody. A team of Aurors will be dispatched to your place of residence, and you’ll be moved to a safe house this-”

“No.” she cut him off, crumpling the memo in her hand, “I’m not being put into protective custody. Paris fashion week is a month away, and I’m in four shows, opening one, closing two. I’m not missing it.”

She heard James scoff behind her, but she ignored him. 

He could think whatever he wanted, but frankly, she didn’t give a fuck what he thought anymore. She wasn’t missing what was going to be her biggest season yet, death threats or no death threats.

“Ms. Evans,” Moody implored, seeming to have expected pushback from her. “This is a matter of life and death, not to mention the secrecy of our world. You do understand that this is more than just some fashion show.”

Ignoring his comment about ‘just some fashion show,’ she moved to sit at one of the armchairs in front of his desk, readying herself for a fight. “And what’s going to happen when I disappear from public life? That will raise more questions.”

Moody leaned back in his chair, considering what she’d said. “How often are you seen in public?”

“Seen or noticed?”

She could practically hear James rolling his eyes.

“Noticed.”

“Weekly. Plus, I have public appearances with the muggle media. I have an appearance on the Graham Norton Show later this week.” she explained, “I can’t be squirrelled away. People will notice I’m gone, and that will raise more questions. Like why I’m suddenly in protection right after a plot to kill me was secretly hatched.”

“That could put our field agents in danger.” Moody thought, talking more to himself than to Lily, “might put people’s cover at risk.”

“And we wouldn’t want that.” Lily insisted, pulling out what other girls in the business called ‘model charm.’ 

She wasn’t a manipulative person, but she had quickly learned that with a sweet smile and what Marley referred to as her bedroom eyes, she could get anything she wanted.

“Which is why you’ll have to have a full-time Auror posted to you.”

“That seems much easier.” she agreed, relief sweeping her system. She’d had bodyguards before, and dealing with one of the silent, stony-faced Aurors wouldn’t be that much different.

“Potter, you’ll be assigned to Ms. Evans’s case.”

“What!”

This time both Lily and James spoke.

“Not him. Anyone but him.” Lily begged, jumping up out of her chair.

“With all due respect, I’d rather push paperwork for a year than work on her detail,” James insisted, clearly trying to stop himself from yelling at his superior the same way Lily had.

“And with all due respect, Potter, I don’t give a hippogriff’s left asscheek what you want.” Moody snapped. “You were sent to retrieve her because you’re the only person in the department with whom she’s familiar.”

“Yes, but-”

“We need to make it look as if the ministry is unaware of the plot against Ms. Evans. If she’s suddenly being tailed by an Auror twice her age, it will raise suspicion. But her reconnecting with an old classmate is the best cover we have.”

“I would rather be murdered than ‘re-connect’ with him.” Lily snapped, putting air quotes around the word re-connect.

“It was my understanding you two worked together as head boy and girl?” Moody said, shooting James a questioning look over his shoulder.

“Oh yeah, we sure worked together.” Lily laughed humourlessly, glaring at James. “I did all the work while he got his cock sucked by any willing participant in our shared office.”

Moody just raised an eyebrow.

James looked furious, his jaw was clenched, and a muscle in his neck was ticking with anger.

“Can I speak to you for a moment?” he asked. His voice was calm, but she could see the unbridled fury in his hazel eyes.

“No. I don’t want to-”

But he had already grabbed her upper arm and was forcefully dragging her out of Moody’s office and into the Auror department hallway.

“I-”

“Not here.” He cut her off again before dragging her into a broom cupboard, flicking his wand to turn on the small overhead light.

“Oh wow, I’m finally getting the James Potter broom cupboard experience.” She said sarcastically, setting her face into what she hoped was the bitchiest expression she could muster. “Go ahead, dazzle me. I heard you were good with your tongue.”

“Would you stop it for one minute!” He snapped, “That was my boss you just said those things too!”

“And I’m supposed to care?” she retorted, thoroughly enjoying having the upper hand on him. 

“He’s the man that’s going to make sure your sorry ass is safe!” he hissed, his hazel eyes flashing angrily in the dim light. “You could have cost me my job!”

“Oddly enough, I find myself once again struggling to understand how I’m supposed to give a fuck.” Lily shrugged, leaning back against the door of the broom cupboard 

“Jesus, you turned into a bitch.”

“And you stayed one.” Lily retorted.

“School ended five years ago Lily, have you ever thought about maybe letting go?”

Lily sucked on the inside of her cheek, trying to will herself to keep up the haughty air she’d assumed. 

“I haven’t thought about you or Hogwarts for five years, Potter. So excuse me if your sudden reappearance hasn’t brought up happy memories of our school days.”

“You’re a child.”

“And you’re an ass.” Lily hissed, “glad to see neither of us has grown up.”

“You’re being ridiculous!” His hands were in his hair, pulling at the strands in frustration. “You have no idea how much you just embarrassed me in there.”

“We’ll call it even then.” Her voice and demeanour were calm, but her anger was reaching boiling point. 

“You’re-”

He was cut off because the door to the broom cupboard burst open, and an annoyed-looking Moody was on the other side.

“You two will have plenty of time to hash out schoolyard grudges later.”

Lily flushed, feeling as if she’d just been told off by a teacher.

“If you’re not going to be moved to a safe house, then Potter needs to secure your place of residence as soon as possible. After that, he’ll settle in, and you two can discuss safety strategies.”

“Settle in?” Lily repeated, “You don’t expect me to LIVE with him, do you?”

“He’s your full-time detail, and that means all hours of the day. If your place isn’t big enough as is, I’m sure we can arrange for an expansion charm.”

“I have space,” Lily muttered under her breath, already imagining him sullying one of her guest bedrooms.

“Good, then you two should get a move on.” Moody insisted before fixing James with a sharp look. “I expect a report of the measures taken by the end of the day and weekly ones after that. I’ll update you on the situation as needed. We’ll send a team around tomorrow to double-check the security measures. Make sure you vet those who have access to her place.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Miss Evans, I’ll remind you if you refuse this, you will be brought into protective custody regardless of whether or not you want to.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

The walk through the ministry was nothing short of torture. Lily pulled the hood of her jumper over her head and kept her head low. 

Marley worked at the ministry in the department of games and sports, and the one time Lily had gone to visit her at work resulted in her getting mobbed in the central atrium.

The cab ride back to her flat was no less awkward. 

James sat pressed to the opposite side of the back seat, staring determinedly out of the window. His knuckles white from gripping his knees. 

She could still feel the anger coming off him in waves, and she was dreading being alone with him again. At least her flat was big enough that she wouldn’t have to interact with him if she didn’t want to.

“Hi, Lily!” Thomas, her doorman, greeted as they pulled up in front of her building.

“Hey, Thomas! How was your son’s play?”

“It was good, miss, he’ll be right chuffed, you asked!” The older man said, opening the door for her and James.

“I’ll see you later, Thomas!” She smiled, diligently ignoring the fact James was beside her.

It wasn’t until they were alone in the elevator did she fully realize that she was about to have to share her home with the person she hated most. She had chosen this building complex because of the security it provided. A 24-hour doorman and front desk meant no one entered the building without approval or a resident’s permission. You also had to put in your key to get the elevator to stop at your floor, which meant you couldn’t even get to someone’s front door without them. 

It was also ridiculously private, with each floor belonging to a resident. Many of those who lived there came from money. And they weren’t exactly looking to know their upstairs or downstairs neighbour.

When the elevator doors swung open, she couldn’t help feeling smug at the brief look of surprise that flashed across his face. 

Lily hadn’t grown up with very much. Her parents passed away shortly after she was born, and her grandparent’s pension didn’t provide for new clothes and school supplies. 

Much of what she had was second-hand. And her too-short, greying robes and tattered school books were something other students had picked up on.

It was safe to say Lily’s new lifestyle was a far cry from what she’d grown up with. Her place was nice, open concept, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a sleek modern design had cost her more than she was willing to admit. She’d contrasted the modern flat with vintage pieces, velvet tufted couches, and thrifted art frames and prints. So despite the sleek modern muggle appliances, it felt homey. 

It had five bedrooms. Aside from the master bedroom and the two guest bedrooms she had converted one into a designated ‘magic room.’ A simple anti-muggle charm ensured any muggle guests didn’t stumble into a spare room and find spell books and a cauldron. Another had been converted to an art studio and was always a mess, filled with canvases and paint trays.

“You’ll stay there,” Lily said, pointing towards a door on the far end of the sitting room. 

“How many people need to come here regularly?” James asked, surveying her apartment with thinly-veiled interest and ignoring her directions.

“Six.”

“And those six people are?

“My agent, my publicist, Marley McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, Dorcas Meadows, and Owen Leblanc.”  


"Leblanc? The football player?” He said, looking surprised

“Yes, the football player. I’m surprised you know him.”

He didn’t respond, eyes roving over her apartment again, seeming to focus on the windows. “They’ll all need to be vetted. Do any have direct access to here?”

“Both Marley and my agent have a key,” Lily said, walking over to her fridge and pulling out a bottle of green juice.

“I’m guessing both your publicist and agent are muggles?”

“Is that an issue?”

“Why would that be an issue?” James frowned.

Lily shrugged. Truth be told, she didn’t know much about James’s politics on muggles. He had never made comments about her being muggle-born, and given his general distaste for the Slytherin students who threw around the word mudblood, she didn’t see him as a blood purist.

“Owen is a muggle too.”

“That much, I guessed.” He said before lapsing into silence. His Auror trained eyes searching her apartment diligently.

Lily just rolled her own, turning back to her green juice.

“Why is Leblanc here so much?” he questioned, breaking the silence he’d created.

“He fucks my brains out every Tuesday and Sunday.”

“Your sex is scheduled?” He said, eyebrows raised.

“Those are the nights he doesn’t have practice, and I don’t go out.” she shrugged. 

“How often do you go out?” James frowned, turning now from surveying her apartment to face her fully, leaning on the counter across from her.

“Pretty much every Friday and Saturday unless I have work.”

“Wonderful. Just bloody wonderful.” He groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

“It’s not like you have to come.” She huffed

“Yes. Yes, I do. Where you go, I go, Evans. You’ll need to cut back on going out, especially to muggle clubs. It’s not safe.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“When it comes to your safety? Yes, I can.”

“It’s my life Potter, my flat, and MY career. I’m not changing things!”

“It’s my career too, Evans!” James snapped, gripping the edge of her counters tightly. “And you’ve done enough damage to it today. So if you could set aside the attitude for one fucking minute and listen to me! You will do what I say when it comes to your security, regardless of whether or not you want to. I’m not above locking you in this fucking flat and throwing away the goddamn key because frankly, I don’t give a shit that someone is trying to off you. I care about not getting demoted because your stupid ass got herself killed.”

Lily slammed her bottle of juice down on the counter.

“Fuck. You. Fuck you, James Potter!” She hissed venomously before whirling around and stomping to her bedroom. Slamming the door hard behind her and locking it with a wave of her wand.

She hated James Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me update faster ;)


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